mikeforliberty
Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2011
- Messages
- 346
ARIZONA LEGISLATOR RUNS RED LIGHT AND GETS A TICKET !
By Dennis Welch
The Arizona Guardian
A video obtained by the Arizona Guardian shows state Sen. Frank Antenori driving his three-ton pick-up truck through a traffic light near downtown Scottsdale that had been red for more than a minute.
The police video shows the Tucson lawmaker, who is a fierce opponent of photo enforcement, driving through the stale red light about 11:30 p.m. in mid-January near Thomas and Scottsdale roads.
According to Sgt. Mark Clark, a spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department, the light was red for at least 60 seconds before Antenori rolls through the intersection, setting off a couple of flashlights from the photo enforcement cameras.
Antenori was fined $258 for failing to stop at the light, according to a copy of the traffic ticket. Still photographs attached to the citation show Antenori driving with his signature blue-tooth ear-pierce in place. The photos also show an Antenori campaign bumper sticker above his license plate. The video also shows that he never stopped and drove through the intersection at 19 mph at 11:31 p.m. When asked Wednesday whether he was being reckless, Antenori said, “I don’t think so.”
“It was late at night and I came out of the store on the corner and I ran the red light,” Antenori said. “This is unreal. Clearly I wasn’t paying attention.”
Antenori says he lives about a block away from the intersection when he’s in town for the Legislature which meets Monday-Thursday. He said he was getting a milk at the corner store to have with his coffee the next morning. “There was nobody at risk,” he said. “I was inching along. It was a mistake.”
Antenori has a court date scheduled for next month and hasn’t paid the fine. Clearly, Antenori has grown tired this week of talking about his traffic problems.
“You want me to dream up something else for you to do,” Antenori said. “Or are you just going to continue to pound on me.”
Over the weekend the Arizona Daily Star ran a story about an unpaid photo enforcement ticket. On Monday Antenori, who never received a ticket because of a glitch in the system, paid the ticket. The Star story also mention Anteori’s ticket in Scottsdale on January 17.
At the same time he was taking questions about past traffic infractions, the Tucson lawmaker was fighting to pass legislation that would have expanded street intersections and, according to Antenori, reduced the number of drivers the cameras catch running red lights.
He succeeded Tuesday in getting the bill through a Senate committee. It was a different story last week when a House committee killed the same bill which lead Antenori to blow up on a Phoenix police officer who testified against the measure. Antenori called the officer a “crybaby” and a “liar.”
Source: http://www.redmeansstop.org/
By Dennis Welch
The Arizona Guardian
A video obtained by the Arizona Guardian shows state Sen. Frank Antenori driving his three-ton pick-up truck through a traffic light near downtown Scottsdale that had been red for more than a minute.
The police video shows the Tucson lawmaker, who is a fierce opponent of photo enforcement, driving through the stale red light about 11:30 p.m. in mid-January near Thomas and Scottsdale roads.
According to Sgt. Mark Clark, a spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department, the light was red for at least 60 seconds before Antenori rolls through the intersection, setting off a couple of flashlights from the photo enforcement cameras.
Antenori was fined $258 for failing to stop at the light, according to a copy of the traffic ticket. Still photographs attached to the citation show Antenori driving with his signature blue-tooth ear-pierce in place. The photos also show an Antenori campaign bumper sticker above his license plate. The video also shows that he never stopped and drove through the intersection at 19 mph at 11:31 p.m. When asked Wednesday whether he was being reckless, Antenori said, “I don’t think so.”
“It was late at night and I came out of the store on the corner and I ran the red light,” Antenori said. “This is unreal. Clearly I wasn’t paying attention.”
Antenori says he lives about a block away from the intersection when he’s in town for the Legislature which meets Monday-Thursday. He said he was getting a milk at the corner store to have with his coffee the next morning. “There was nobody at risk,” he said. “I was inching along. It was a mistake.”
Antenori has a court date scheduled for next month and hasn’t paid the fine. Clearly, Antenori has grown tired this week of talking about his traffic problems.
“You want me to dream up something else for you to do,” Antenori said. “Or are you just going to continue to pound on me.”
Over the weekend the Arizona Daily Star ran a story about an unpaid photo enforcement ticket. On Monday Antenori, who never received a ticket because of a glitch in the system, paid the ticket. The Star story also mention Anteori’s ticket in Scottsdale on January 17.
At the same time he was taking questions about past traffic infractions, the Tucson lawmaker was fighting to pass legislation that would have expanded street intersections and, according to Antenori, reduced the number of drivers the cameras catch running red lights.
He succeeded Tuesday in getting the bill through a Senate committee. It was a different story last week when a House committee killed the same bill which lead Antenori to blow up on a Phoenix police officer who testified against the measure. Antenori called the officer a “crybaby” and a “liar.”
Source: http://www.redmeansstop.org/
